


Zoran

by Vivid_Insomnia



Series: Vivid Insomnia [1]
Category: Tetsuwan Atom | Astro Boy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-08-31 07:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8569186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vivid_Insomnia/pseuds/Vivid_Insomnia
Summary: Tenma creates Zoran, a robot designed to top out Elefun's creation of Uran. He sends her off to live with Elefun, Astro and Uran, leaving Zoran and Astro to figure out who's messing with their heads.(RATED T FOR SWEARING, VIOLENCE, MINOR BLOOD, AND HORROR) [FIRST INSTALLMENT IN THE VIVID INSOMNIA ASTRO BOY FAN FIC SERIES]





	1. Birth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to.... VIVID INSOMNIA.

     The sun crept through Astro’s window, illuminating his bed sheets.

Astro had been laughing and giggling the whole night while recalling a few memories in his dream. In the corner of his nightstand not too far from his bed, hid a vanilla scented candle that, even with it not being lit, still omitted a faint scent.

It was morning.

Monday morning, meaning if Astro didn't get up any sooner, he’d be late for school.

On-time-for-school streak, gone.

Soon though, Astro got up out of his bed and pulled the sheets back up, almost making it seem like he never even slept there in the first place.

With not even enough time to turn around, he yawned, flailing his arms all around.

“Astro, what are you doing?” A voice crept into the room after seeing him yawn and a thought of asking crossed their mind.

“Ah!” Astro jumped, screaming.

“Geez, for an eleven year old, you’re a huge scaredy-cat!” The voice walked over to Astro.

“I am not! You just kinda- you know….. _Surprised_ me…” Astro laughed nervously.

“Haha, nice try big brother, now come on, I’m starving!”

“Pffft…. fine.” Astro followed them out of his room and downstairs.

Downstairs.

When you first stroll in, you're met with the stairs that were to your right side, which went straight in a privilege upwards heading, then it made a left turn and proceeded up.

On the off chance that you passed the stairs however, an entryway on your right met you which leads to the basement, and on the left? The living room.

If you ever did continue past that though, you had the dining room which had only a semi-small rectangular table in the center, encompassed by seats and to your right was the kitchen.

     There was an older man that sat at the end of that dining room table, sipping coffee as he read the newspaper. His name was Dr. Elefun, but he rather Astro and his sister refer to him as “Doctor”, or “Professor”. 

“Morning, professor!” Astro greeted, making his way to the table.

“Good morning, Astro.” Came a greeting in response from Elefun as he flipped a page in his newspaper.

“MORNING, PROFESSOR!” The voice from earlier yelled from behind Asto.

“Morning to you too, Uran.” Replied Elefun with a slight chuckle.

Uran, the voice (and Astro’s younger sister) sat across from Astro at the table.

Astro looked over at Elefun after noticing the table was empty.

Elefun put the newspaper down in confusion, seeing the table covered in nothing but placemats and a bowl of fruit sitting in the center of the table.

“Oh, your breakfast!” Elefun rapidly stood up and strolled into the kitchen.

He picked up two bowls from the counter and placed one in front of Astro and one in front of Uran.

Astro lifted up his spoon and watched Elefun sit back down and resume what he was doing previously before finally dumping it into his bowl of cereal.

Nothing was said at the table for a moment before Uran opened her mouth to speak.

“So what’s the plan for today, professor?” She asked.

Uran was the childish type. Here, there, Uran was everywhere! Always curious, always energetic and always playful. But despite her energetic, childish nature, she had a huge heart and cared deeply about her family and friends, especially her older brother, Astro.

“Well…today I have to go fill out some paperwork and I hear the head of Biology, Dr. Claire, is expected to pay me a visit.”

“Wow! That’s gonna be so cool!” Uran exclaimed..

“Sure will.” Astro butted in.

Uran chuckled.

Soon enough, Astro was out the door and on his way to school.

Not long after in the midst of strolling the sidewalk, he heard a voice shout to him.

“Hey Brianna!” Astro called out back to her.

Brianna was Astro’s newest friend. She was blonde with green eyes, fair skin and long hair she wore in a fishtail braid, along with the typical T-shirt, jeans and yellow-and-white canvas shoes, she too was whimsical and fun loving like Uran despite being eleven. Astro did like her, and she did too, but they’ve kept that underneath their now developing friendship. Not to mention she’s a bit of your typical fangirl.

Brianna finally caught up to Astro.

“So how was your weekend?” she asked

“Oh! Uh… great actually!” Astro replied.

“Haha, that’s nice, _I_ didn’t do anything this weekend, because you know, with my mom and all, you know how she is.” Brianna rolled her eyes.

Despite the fact that she seems, by all accounts, to be upbeat and happy, Brianna had a dark past and a mother that wasn't extremely decent to her, she was exceptionally oppressive and things didn't show signs of improvement when she heard Brianna was hanging out with Astro, she hates robots exceptionally.

But Brianna put up with her.

“Aw, well that’s too bad.”

Brianna sighed.

“I just wish she would stop hurting me…”

“Well then don’t let her hurt you.” Astro looked at her with a face that had seriousness plastered all over it.

“It’s not that simple you know!” Brianna raised her voice.

 

     Tenma..

It’s a name no one chooses to utter, or even think about for that matter.

Be that as it may, he was a liberated person now, still insane, yet free.

And he had something on his mind.

He was planning a new invention.

And was calling it, Zoran.

Elefun may have shown up to the plate when he made Uran, but oh no, zoran was designed to be better!

He contemplated it for some time in his brain while secured up his little prison cell in solitude.

Be that as it may, how he got the thought was entirely odd.

After the entire episode at the Ministry of Science happened, Astro for reasons unknown started to feel odd.

Nothing he felt made sense.

He had never felt along these lines.

Maybe after Tenma had poured his heart out to him and confessed his mistakes, along with the truth, Astro had a change of heart about him.

Maybe what everyone had said about him was wrong?

Maybe he was just being, human, and making mistakes.

_Maybe….._

_“What if it was all my fault?”_

Astro started to consider it at an increasing amount.

It came to the heart of the matter where he would sit in the corner and cry in light of the fact that he felt so regretful for being the reason Tenma became who he was.

Astro arranged to visit him after finding it quite unbearable to feel the sudden pain of guilt and regret that wrapped itself around him, suffocating and leaving him weak, helpless, and not really sure of how or when he was ever gonna bounce back.

Surprisingly, when you’d think at least one of them would have had something to say, nothing was even mouthed with the silence in the air the only thing even appearing. 

_Maybe….._

When it was at last time to leave, Astro exited with the same agony he strolled in with as he forced a smile to shroud his tears of blame and misery.

Oddly enough, the visit seemed to spark a light in Tenma’s mind to construct something new.

And now, his plan was finished.

All that was left was to build it.

Tenma decided to start right away. After opening a few cans of energy drinks and leaving out a case of beer bottles, he began working on Zoran.

Astro looked down at the ground.

He sighed.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

“No no, it’s my fault, I should have never raised my voice, _I’m_ sorry.” Brianna replied.

“No, it’s fine.” Astro shook his head.

     Both of them strolled up the progressions of the school which were trailed by the swinging doors that invited you into the school, with the main office to your left, a way to the cafeteria on your right side and another set of double doors ahead that led you into a hallway, showing you another entry into the cafeteria and the classrooms if you walked even further.

They both made it inside homeroom early and sat at their assigned seats.

Mr. Mustachio was sitting up at his desk holding a digital clipboard.

“Well it seems it’s only you two today.” He joked with a chuckle.

“Oh come on Mr. Mustachio, I’m sure everyone is gonna come, look there’s Kennedy!” Brianna replied.

“Oh! Welcome to class Kennedy.” Mustachio greeted as Kennedy walked in.

“Sups homero-” He couldn’t even finish his sentence before letting out a huge burp.

“Whoo all that soda is making me burp up a storm!”

Kennedy sat at a desk next to Astro.

“Sups, Astro?”

“Nothing.” Astro shrugged.

“Well that's *burps* dang it, I tell you, all you need to do is drink a few cans of cola and you’ll be burping like crazy!”

Alvin soon walked through the classroom door.

“Welcome to class, Alvin.” Came yet another greeting from Mustachio.

“Morning!” Alvin walked to his seat and sat down.

“Sups *burps again* Alvin-o?”

“Geez, talk about burp central!” Alvin said as he moved away from Kennedy.

Astro couldn’t help but laugh the whole time.

“Pfft, watch, I’m gonna get an award for greatest burper and be filthy rich while you’re on the side of the road holding up a ‘will work for food’ sign!”

“Ha, not possible, everyone knows _I’m_ the burping champion!”

“Oh! Hi Brianna!” Alvin flirtatiously waved at Brianna.

She rolled her eyes and turned back around.

Astro looked around “Hey, where's Theodore?” He asked.

“Oh yeah, Theo! Where's the little rascal?” Kennedy too circled around the room.

“Ooo a text! Yeah, he says he's not at school yet.”

Alvin, after looking at his phone for a moment, glanced over at Astro and Kennedy as he spoke.

“WHAT?! No No, he needs to get his fat caboose OVER HERE!” Kennedy immediately began typing away on his phone.

“Get... your... giant... fat... caboose over... here... or... we’re... gonna... gang up... on you... and… you won’t...live...to see… tomorrow, SEND!” As he typed, he spoke the words out loud.

Soon, Theodore walked in.

“Theodore, welcome to class!” Mustachio greeted as he walked in.

Theodore adjusted his glasses as he strolled to his desk and sat down.

Alvin, Astro and Kennedy stared at him.

“What?” Theodore asked, confounded.

They continued to stare at him.

“What? They had a traffic jam on the way here and my mom’s road rage was up to here, you know she’s crazy!”

“Oh what a pleasant surprise, welcome to class Mindy!” Mustachio smiled at her as he walked into class.

She had been sick for a whole week.

“Thanks… Mr. … Mustachio.” Mindy walked over to her desk.

“Is this whole class on drugs?” Kennedy asked.

Alvin, Astro and Theodore stared at him.

“What? It’s the perfect explanation for why we’re all crazy nutjobs with an IQ lower than Barney!”

“Pfft, I’ll have you know, I am excelling in my classes _and_ received _Principal’s honor roll **twice** _ my friend……” Astro butted in.

“Pfft, sure sure, bet you anything he watches porn while he studies….”

“What?” Astro questioned disgustingly backing away for a second, a squeamish look on his face.

“Yeah, you can check for his stash in his bookbag.”

“Oooh, I see what this is…” Theodore butted in.

“Huh?” Kennedy turned around.

“You like Astro!”

“No…. **NO**!”

“Brianna, looks like you got competition!”

Brianna turned around.

“If you guys are gonna be jerk-faces, I’ll see you after school!” she said as he pounded her fist against her hand.

“Geez, just trying to help you, sometimes when you gotta kick out the competition, even if they live two houses away from you and does nothing but text with screamo music in the background.”

“What kinda friends do I even have?” Astro muttered in distress.

“He’s lying!” Kennedy in a defensive manner.

“Maybe _you’re_ the one that’s on drugs… just saying…”

     After school, Astro was at home finishing the last bits of his sandwich before Elefun and Uran walked through the door.

“Oh Astro, you’re home early?” Elefun asked.

“No, I always get home at this time.” Astro replied.

“Oh, I guess that presentation added more time to my workday, not to mention traffic was a pain.” Elefun hung his coat up as Uran walked upstairs to her room.

“Yeah, how was the presentation?” Astro asked.

“Quite fine actually.” Elefun walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

“So anything else new?”

“ _Well_ … they uh, just released…um… _he who shall not be named_ this past weekend, not really in favor of it, but what can you do?” Elefun shrugged.

“Right.”

“Well I think i’m gonna go start on my homework now…” Astro quietly walked away to his room.

He closed the door behind him.

“Come on Astro, you know you can’t do this to yourself, you need to get it together.” Astro quietly said to himself.

 

     “Come on Tenma, you can do this…”

Dr. Tenma was standing in front of a metal table, stressed out and clueless.

“You have a plan, stick to it!”

He walked over to another table filled with tools and one giant rolled out blueprint in the midst of it all.

The phone rang.

Tenma refused to answer it.

He cracked open another energy drink and took a sip as he reviewed his blueprints.

 

     Astro was sitting at his desk doing homework, still trying to keep the pain and agony within himself.

His hand began to shake.

Everything was becoming blurry.

Astro felt like he was going to faint.

He attempted to get up yet fell to the ground once he made it up the seat.

Knocked out unconscious, he envisioned waking up, opening his eyes and struggling to figure out what happened.

_“Astro?”_

_“W-wha? Where am I?”_

_“You had an anxiety attack.”_

_“O-o-oh, no, no, NO!”_

_“ASTRO!!!”_

_“NOOOO!”_

Astro suddenly woke up back on the floor again where he was previously.

He brought his knees up to his chest.

“I’m losing it.” He muttered.

He couldn’t help himself any longer.

Astro put his head down and began to sob.

     The next day Astro stepped out of the bathroom and headed downstairs for breakfast.

There was no one there.

Astro fixed himself a small bowl of cereal and sat down alone.

He had decided to take a mental day off, to sort things out in his head and really get over what was holding him back.

Uran and Elefun had already left, it was just Astro alone it his thoughts and the many things that troubled him.

At the same time Astro sneezed, the doorbell rang.

He got up and walked to the door.

“Oh, you must be Astro?” The person said.

“Uh… yes?” Astro replied.

“Great! Dr. Elefun sent me to keep an eye on you.”

“Oh yeah, come in.” Astro moved out of the way to let the person in.

“Not sure why he wanted me to come watch you, you seem like you can take care of yourself, besides, I have school-y college-y stuff to do, boy do they not give you a break in engineering school….” They said as they walked inside the house, looking at Astro with a confused look on their face.

“Not sure either, must have serious trust issues.” Astro replied, closing the door behind them and walking back to sit in the same seat he sat in not too long ago.

“So you took the day off, huh? Quite surprising if you ask me.”

“My head is just a mess, I really just need time to straighten it out completely.”

“Well I guess you’re not getting that perfect attendance then, hmm?”

“At this point I could really care less.” Astro got up and headed for the stairs.

“Oh uh, don’t kill yourself or get into trouble, alright?”

“Sure, why not?” Astro slammed the door.

He sighed as he was greeted by the troubles within him, causing great stress and pain.

Astro walked over to his computer and played a little loud music.

He reached over for the pen lying next to the mouse and spent a good minute writing on his wrist, then sat in his chair and let the loud music take him and let him doze off to sleep.

After a while of sitting in the chair and sleeping, Astro started to squirm in his seat, making him antsy and uncomfortable.

“Shit!” He suddenly yelled as he cringed, bringing his knees up to his chest.

“Mmmmmm nocursey, Asstorio-y……” Astro mumbled to himself, falling back asleep.

“I could have this done in a month if I could just pull together!”

It suddenly got quiet in the basement.

Tenma grabbed his last bottle of beer and took a sip before pouring the rest all over himself, then carelessly threw it, landing on the ground, the glass shattered.

He groaned, walking over to the metal table where he stared at the unfinished Zoran.

If she were finished, she would look at him with fear.

     Astro soon woke up to his loud music still blaring from his computer, he got up and turned it off before rubbing his eye.

He walked out of his room, making his way downstairs.

“So I never got your name?” Astro asked.

“Oh! Well um… I’m _going_ to be Dr. Meyer in a few years, I’m in the middle of college right now... again....” The man from earlier replied.

Astro sat down next to him on the couch.

“So you like robotics?” He asked.

“Well it’s not too shabby, could use some work though.”

Astro chuckled.

“Thinking of working at that new robot hospital they’re building right now!”

“Oh yeah I heard they’re building one, finally, the professor says the ministry gets really busy, so I assume that’s why it’s being built.”

“Hmmm, now that you mention it, the ministry _does_ seem to get quite an influx of robots daily…” Meyer scratched his head as he spoke.

“You said it, wonder if anyone else is gonna work there?”

“Oh I’m sure they will, not like they wouldn’t, they’d need a large staff anyways.”

“Hmmm… you have a point.”

Astro got up and walked to the kitchen to get a drink.

He sat himself down in a stool and stared off into space as he took a sip from his cup.

     Later on in the day when Elefun returned from work with Uran, and Meyer took a leave, Astro was sat at the dinner table playing with his phone as Elefun babbled on about his day.

“So they asked me if I had anything for it and I thought I’d use you!” Elefun began.

“So they’re gonna clone me?” Astro asked, sarcastically showing his disinterest through the tone of his voice.

“Well of course, they haven’t worked out all the details, but they plan on doing it in May, of next year, obviously.”

“AW that’s gonna be so cool, I’ve always wanted a clone of myself!” Uran exclaimed.

“I dunno, seems a bit complex, and what if things go wrong or something?” Astro quickly contradicted Uran’s excitement.

“Pft please, don’t be such a downer! And besides, the professor says if your clones a success, then we can keep him, instead of him being dismantled and all…..”

“Meh.” Astro shrugged.

A loud beeping noise came from the oven.

“Oh! Guess dinner’s done cooking.” Elefun got up and walked to the oven.

“I’m not eating today…” Astro began.

“Hmm, fine. But you’re gonna eat tomorrow, right?”

“Sure.” Astro rubbed his back of his head as he stood up, pushing his chair in and going to his room.

     The middle of the night came around and Astro tossed and turned in his bed, contrary to how peaceful he slept just a few days ago.

_“HELP!”_

Astro abruptly woke up when he heard a voice yell.

He looked around the room.

“Y-yes? Are you there?” Astro asked, stuttering with his words and cowering in sudden fear.

No response.

Astro left his room after getting out of his bed and walked over to Uran’s room.

He saw she was dead asleep, peacefully sleeping in her bed while clinging to a teddy bear in one of her arms.

Astro let out a quiet chuckle as a faint smile appeared.

He closed the door and quietly walked downstairs

“Is anyone here?” He whispered.

Again, no response.

Astro sighed. “I wonder if they’re outside.” He thought.

He walked to the front door and left the house.

“ _HELP!_ ” Yelled the same voice that rung in Astro’s head like church bells on a Sunday morning.

Astro cringed, it was as if something was messing with his mind.

He was determined to find out who the voice was, and why exactly they were in such distress.

“ _I-I--I’M HERE, SOMEBODY HELP!!!_ ”

Astro collapsed to the ground, cringing at the pain and the seriously bad headache he was enduring

He sighed, letting the tears stream down his face.

Astro felt defenseless.

Zoran had quite recently been near completion, when you work for a really long time, no rest, the procedure was certain to pass by quick.

Sure, she still needed a few parts and what-not, but her system was done.

“Well you did it Tenma, halfway done.”

He seemed proud but knew this was only the beginning.


	2. Stolen Mind

      Outside.

It was an early Friday morning in the crisp and clear Metrocity.

The trees were blowing slowly in the wind, the sun just barely peaking over the horizon.

The wind was starting to pick up, getting colder by the minute.

He wished he wore a jacket.

Astro stood outside the front door with a faint smile plastered on his mouth.

He took a moment to think before taking his first step.

Shivering, Astro kept up his momentum and continued walking.

Taking slow strides down the driveway and onto the sidewalk, the breeze started to slow a bit, allowing Astro to let his arms rest until the breeze would return once more. The neighborhood was still, nothing seemed to happen around the shivering robot. All he could hear were his own shaky breaths in the windy silence.

A lot of things could be said at that very moment with not much risk, even plotting an evil scheme seemed doable when no one bothered to go outside.

Astro kept walking and made it to the end of the sidewalk, where the roads met with a four-way intersection, which for once was empty.

“NO STOP!”

He shuddered and turned around to see no one was there.

He was all alone.

In the crisp and clear Metrocity morning.

Giving up on any suspicions, he crossed the street and kept walking.

      Things seemed to be smooth after that sudden incident. If the day had to wipe out anything and ignore it as a whole, it had to be the screaming of a voice in pain that frequently returned to stab Astro in the back with the thoughts of what dangers the world really _did_ have for him.

It _had_ to be that.

He came home with a smile that made words out of the unexplainable but hid dark fears.

“Astro!” Elefun greeted, getting up from the dining room table.

“BIG BROTHERRRRRR!!!” Uran rushed over to her older sibling, springing into the air and diving at him.

Astro took a step back and chuckled, trying not to topple over.

“Woah! Go easy, you’re gonna knock me over.” He made sweeping motions with his hands.

Uran giggled.

“So you had a good day at school?” Elefun asked.

“Uh…. yeah! Had a great day. During lunch, Alvin said the funniest joke, making milk shoot out of Ken’s nose!” Astro giggled.

Elefun laughed.

Astro walked over to the dining room table and chatted with both the professor and Uran for a bit before going upstairs to his room.

He sighed with a somber expression on his face, lying down on his bed.

“Wonder what happened to the voice that kept tormenting me?” He thought out loud.

Astro changed his position. “Probably left to go torment someone else.”

**_“HELP!!”_ **

“Or maybe not…” Astro cringed.

“I-I… I CAN’T HELP YOU!!” He screamed.

**_“YOU’VE GOTTA HELP ME, I’M STUCK!!”_ **

“I CAN’T!”

**_“YOU’VE GOTTA! YOU’VE... WHERE ARE YOU!?”_ **

“I-I-”

**_“HELP ME!!!!”_ **

Astro panicked, he had no idea what to do.

Who was this anyways?

What did they want?

And why did they need help?

They’re stuck?

Stuck where?

And how did they get stuck in the first place?

And how did they find Astro?

What could possibly be wrong?

           

      It was the next day at the ministry, Dr. Claire was heading out to attend a very important meeting regarding a project she was directing.

“Heading out so soon?” A strange man asked with a sly smile. He was leaning on the receptionist’s desk, blocking the doctor’s pathway.

“I don’t have time to talk, _Brandt_. I have a very important meeting to attend regarding my project.” Claire replied, annoyed.

“Oh is that so?” Brandt tilted his head, the smile growing bigger. He tried his best to act suave but it only came out as distasteful.

“Yes, now can you please let me through, I am going to be late.” Claire protested, trying to walk around the man only for him to shift over and into her way again.

“Now hold up there. Did you really think you could just walk out of your office without having a chat with me, hmmmm?”

Dr. Claire sighed. “I would _love_ to have a talk with you,” She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “But I really should be heading‒”

The man grabbed Claire’s arm. “You're not going anywhere.”

“Brandt please, I need to go to my‒” Claire tried breaking away.

“Not anymore.” Brandt pulled Claire closer.

Claire grunted and forcefully pushed Brandt away.

“Do that again and I’ll file a report for sexual harassment.” She huffed and smoothed out her lab coat. She walked away with her head held high and a domineering smirk.

      After school, Astro walked home, as he usually did. He heard someone call his name from a distance.

“ASTROOOOOO!!!” The voice called.

Astro’s heart skipped a beat. Was it the voice again?

He heard running footsteps behind him and turned around.

It was Brianna.

She caught up with him and huffed, trying to catch her breath.

“I-I…. I… just…. Wanted to say…. Hi.” She tried saying.

Astro chuckled, trying his best to brush off his earlier panic.

“So uh…. You heading home?” Brianna asked.

“Uh, yeah… why?” Astro replied.

“Oh! Nothing, just wondering…” Brianna shrugged, grinning.

“So uh, how're you and your mom?”

He smile faded quickly.

“Um… not that great.” Brianna shrugged again, this time in embarrassment.

“She still… yelling?”

“Oh no, she’s past that already.” She shifted her shoes against the concrete.

“Brianna….”

“Look, it’s not like I can stand up to her and you know that!” Brianna yelled defensively.

“Brianna I-”

“No, you don’t understand, and you never will! I’ve been abused my whole life, and you’ll never know how that feels!”

Astro sighed.

“You’re- You're right… I never will, I’m sorry…”

“What?” Brianna looked up in confusion, her eyes watery.

“I’ll never know what it’s like to abused the way you are, and I’m sorry for trying.” Astro replied, his eyes pointed to the ground.

Brianna sniffled.

“JERK!” She shoved Astro away and ran off.

Astro sighed.

He walked alone in sorrow and silence.

The sun beat down on him like he was losing in a boxing match.

He was alone with his own thoughts at that point.

Nothing much came to mind.

Brianna’s footsteps were no longer heard, most likely meaning she had already crossed the road to head home.

Astro shuddered, he tried keeping to together.

“Don’t…. Don’t….” Astro squinted his eyes.

He couldn’t help it anymore, sighing, he let the tears stream down his cheeks and fall to the ground.

**_“HELP!!”_ **

“Noooo, not- not now!!” Astro dropped to his knees.

For a moment there was silence.

Astro tried his hardest to take it in while he still could.

But there was a scream.

Then everything went to black.

      When Astro woke up again, he was in his bed. The pitch black outdoors shown through the opened windows, only the full moon casting any light into the room.

Astro sat up, rubbing his head. “Wha-where?” he thought aloud.

A couple of minutes later, there was a knock at the door, Elefun walked in, pleased to see Astro sitting up in bed.

“Astro, you’re awake!” He exclaimed, walking over to the bot.

“Uhhhh, yeah, ha-ha… wide awake!” Astro forced a chuckle.

“Well it’s good to have you back.” Elefun put a hand on Astro’s shoulder.

“Have me…. Back?” Astro tilted his head.

“Oh! Err, uh… What’s that Uran? You want to hear another bedtime story? Ha-ha, sorry Astro, your sister keeps me pretty busy, I’ll see you again in the morning.” Elefun left the room.

“Sure….” Astro craned his head to see Elefun fully shut the door.

“‘Good to have you back.’” Astro still seemed puzzled by Elefun’s words.

“When did I ever leave?”

Astro sighed.

“Hmmm…” He pushed the sheets over and got out of bed.

He walked around his room thinking, trying to piece things together.

“Could the voice be… another robot?” Astro stopped and looked out the window.

He shook his head, making his way to the window and sitting outside on the window sill.

“I mean… if it is a robot, who could it be?” Astro rested his head on the palm of his hand, still looking at the starry night sky.

“Is it… someone I know?”

“No, can’t be…”

“But how do they know me?”

“Maybe I’m just going nuts!” Astro raised his arm and brought it back down after sighing.

“I don’t really know….”

“I do know I have to get to the bottom of this. I can’t give up!” Astro stood up.

He looked down for a second and panicked, falling off the window sill and plummeting towards the ground.

He saved himself by kicking on his rockets and flying back into the air.

He looked down at the house and decided to take a late-night trip around the suburbs. After a while of flying, he touched base onto the ground and had a go at making the trek back home on foot.

“Never knew the neighborhood looked this dark at night…” He thought to himself.

“HEY WHAT- WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!” A voice yelled.

“Uh…. J-j-just walking b-b-back home…” Astro turned to them, shivering in fear.

“BETTA GET GOIN YOUS!! DONT… DUN… AHHHH!! STAY OUTTA THIS!!”

Astro tilted his head. The voice sounded somewhat familiar but he couldn’t put a name to it.

The voice sighed, then laughed.

“Um… Are you okay sir?” he asked, squinting at the dark figure in the distance.

“ME? NAH M-ME GOOD, FU-… FUCK AS GOOD, YES! God I drank too many beers…..”

Astro, obviously creeped out and assumed the voice was a drunkard, quietly walked away.

“YE-YEAH GET OUTTA HERE AS- AS-…. HAHAH ASS!!! IM SO FUNNY!!!!” The man hiccupped.

      Astro managed to forget about the man and regained his train of thought.

“I just don’t see how any of this makes sense…” He strolled the sidewalk, his voice the only noise in the neighborhood.

“It started… when did it start? Pffft, long enough…” He rolled his eyes.

“They keep screaming ‘HELP!’ as if… I know how to help?”

“How can I even help when I don’t know who they are?”

“Or where they are….”

“What do they even need help from?”

Astro looked behind him. “Wonder if there’s a danger I don’t know about.”

He stopped walking. “I need to stop this… I need to figure out what this danger might be…”

“But if I get hurt….” Astro turned back around.

“....That’s a problem.”

“It’s a risk worth taking.” He nodded to himself.

Astro continued his way in the opposite direction, strolling the walkway yet again to accumulate pieces of information on the potential "danger" that may lie ahead.

It felt like ages after Astro walked a reasonably long distance from where he had stopped earlier, the dim streetlights in the neighborhood intensified the creepy atmosphere and enclosed the area in a nighttime that ceased to end.

It was cold again, as it usually was every Metrocity night.

Astro brought his arms up to his shoulders to bite the cold, despite not being warm blooded. Or having any blood for that matter.

“Probably should have worn a jacket.” He kept walking, struggling to be as alert as possible, despite freezing.

With a breeze picking up and the night getting colder, Astro wondered if he ever would get to bottom of this problem, to figure out who is

_The Stolen Mind._


	3. Adventure

     The city. Its lights shining brightly in the night.

Astro.

Walking along the sidewalk. Thoughts kept buzzing through his mind, but now wasn't the time to think. The coldness became unbearable, soon he wouldn't be able to go any further. Astro sighed, and he swore he saw a cloud of his breath in the air.

The city. The lights. Astro.

Numbness.

“Downtown isn't too far.” He said, questioning himself that if his feet gave up, would it be from the cold, or walking.

Astro kept trekking along the path, hoping to make it somewhere warm. Another four-way stop. North, east, south, west. Where was he to go?

He looked around, surrounded by dark houses and trees without leaves. Autumn.

“ _Autumn,_ ” he thought, twisting from side-to-side. “ _Can't believe it's already September…._ ”

North is what he decided on, heading straight forward after the only car driving the streets had passed the sidewalk.

“Well, I haven't heard from them for a while… Maybe they just, left?”

Astro stopped.

“What am I saying?” He shook his head in disbelief, continuing the long walk. “I get these….messages… In my head, and… Then they just, stop? They want help… And I want to help them it's just-”

The city. The lights. Astro.

Confusion.

“I just don't get it!” Astro cringed, stopping completely. “I don't even know who they are, or where they are?! Oh, what am I to do?! I can’t…. I can't help them!”

Astro stopped, he knew yelling was useless at that point. It wasn't long before he tried to keep going, despite not knowing where to go. He looked behind him when a bright light became obvious in the dark of the night. Something didn't feel right.

The city.

The lights.

Astro.

Danger.

Nothing made sense at that point. When Astro tried picking up his pace, nothing made sense. When he heard the sound of a deep voice call his name, nothing made sense. When Astro tripped and his mind erupted with screams and thoughts of danger, _nothing made sense_.

     He was in a classroom filled with familiar faces, but everything felt so foreign. Was he viewing himself from the outside in? Astro had yet to know.

“Hey.” He felt a hand on his shoulder and soft spoken words said to him in a reassuring manner.

“We heard what happened to you over the weekend, pretty rough stuff.”

“What?” Astro turned around.

“Oh, I see, don't wanna talk about it huh?”

“I-I don't understand…”

“It’s fine, we're here for you, though. Squad’s gotta stick together, right?”

“Uh… Yeah, ha-ha… Together.” Astro forced a smile.

When the person walked away, Astro was left with his own wandering thoughts.

_“I wanted to help them. I tried so hard… I wonder what's happened to them now.”_ _Probably long gone….”_ Astro sighed. _“Why can't I just help without hurting?”_

     Astro sat alone in his room after school, sitting at his desk and playing with his pencil. The sound of a phone vibrating was felt through the desk and tickled Astro’s elbows.

**_Ken - 5:26 PM_** _Hey! Squid is goin out 2 ply bsketball, wanna come?_

Astro sighed.

**_Astro - 5:28 PM_** _Ok._

Astro got up from his desk and walked out of his room. Elefun was in his office typing away on his computer.

Astro crept in.

“Uh… Professor?” He asked

“Mmhmm.” Elefun replied.

“Me and the guys are gonna go play basketball.”

“Oh! That's great! I'll see you when you get back.”

Astro nodded and left the office.

     He sat by the bleachers while his friends played basketball on the court.

_“You should go play, take your mind off of what happened…”_ Astro sighed. _“Not today….”_

“Hey Astro! Wanna play? We're short a player!” Ken called out.

_“Now’s your chance! Go out there and play!”_

“N-no... I'm fine.”

“Oh….okay then!” Ken turned around to face Alvin and Theodore.

Astro stood up and walked down to the court.

And then it hit him. Everything. All at once. He remembered it all.

_The sound of a car pulling up beside him._

     Astro tried getting up from the ground, but his mind was ringing with screams and jumbled up thoughts. He heard the sound of someone getting out of the car and letting out a chuckle. Astro finally was able to sit up and see who it was.

“And this is what he's come to? Ha! What a shame…” laughed the dark figure, his voice echoing in Astro’s ears. “When Zoran is finished, she'll be sure to put that old geezer in his place.”

_“Zoran?”_ Astro thought.

The stranger got back into their car and drove off. Astro stood up.

As the car skidded away, Astro was left in even more confusion than before.

_“Zoran?”_ He kept questioning in his mind.

      “Zoran!” Astro blurted out.

“Who?” Theodore stopped in his tracks, allowing the ball to be snatched right out of his hands. “HEY!” He yelled.

“That's who she is!” Astro exclaimed.

“Who's this ‘ _she_ ’?”

“I gotta go find her…”

“Astro, wait… who are you talking about?”

Astro Quickly snapped into reality.

“Uh…” He stuttered.

“Bet it's some girl he likes!” Alvin butted in.

“No uh…. She's uh-”

“Some girl you like? Come on Astro, no need to hide it man!”

Astro quickly shook his head. “I-I gotta go! I'll be back later, thanks guys!!” He started to sprint away from the court.

“Hey where ya goin?! Bah! What an ass…” Alvin shook his head.

“Zoran… Zoran… Zoran…” Astro muttered to himself. “That stranger… They… Knew who she was… But how?”

_“When Zoran is finished, it'll be sure to put that old geezer in his place.”_

“Is she… Captured? Held hostage? No… They said she wasn't ‘finished’ but what does that mean? Wonder if she's a robot too, that could probably explain things….”

“Zoran! Zoran! Where are you?! I want to help!!” Astro cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled. “ _Zoran!!!_ ”

Astro sighed. “It's not use… She’ll never-”

_HELP ME!!_

     Astro cringed for the millionth time.

“I-I… I WANT TO HELP!!!” He yelled.

_PLEASE HELP!!!_

“I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE YOU ARE?!”

_I DON’T KNOW!!!_

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WHERE ARE YOU?!”

_P-please… Please help._

Tears streamed down Astro’s face.

_“ASTRO!!!”_

Astro turned around as another car pulled up next to him.

“Astro! Thank goodness I found you!! Where have you been?!” Elefun said after rolling down the windows of his car.

“I-I-” Astro stuttered.

“Get in the car, I'll take you home.” Elefun replied.

Astro sighed and stood for moment. “Alright.” He nodded and got in the car.

“Now, I don't know where you were trying to go… But I hope this serves as a lesson to never leave the house without my permission, you hear me?” Elefun scolded.

Astro nodded.

“Good. It's freezing out there, I'm surprised you never brought along a jacket.” Elefun rolled up the windows.

     Astro stood with a hand over his mouth, tears streaming down his face again.

“I tried… I tried really hard!” He stuttered. The feeling of regret and sorrow filled him up like water pouring from a pitcher.

“ZORANNNNNNNN!!” Astro yelled, falling to his knees. “WHERE. ARE. YOU?!”

He was lying on his back, hyperventilating.

“There's… There's no use… Who knows what's happened to her now.” He slowly got up and walked the sidewalk.

      “Professor?” Astro asked

“Yes?” Elefun turned a corner.

“Do you know anyone named ‘Zoran’?”

“Zoran? No, never heard that name…”

Astro sighed.

“Were you… Looking for her?”

“....No... Maybe….”

Elefun sighed.

“Astro… Sometimes not all problems are for you to solve, it’s best not to poke your nose into things you shouldn't…”

Astro sighed. “I see…”

“If there's any real threat, I'm sure we'll be notified as soon as possible…”

Astro nodded.

Elefun kept his eyes on the road as Astro looked out the window. Even still being in a car with the windows rolled up, he shivered.

“Is it too cold?” Elefun turned off the A/C

“It's fine.” Astro muttered.

     When he got home, Elefun was the first to head up the stairs and to his room. Astro stayed behind, wandering around downstairs.

_“How did he know I was gone?”_ He thought. ” _I don't remember him ever walking in while I was out on the windowsill… Maybe he came later and saw me gone…”_

Astro sat down at the table and put his head down.

“Astro?”

Astro lifted his head up. “Yes?”

He saw Uran walking down the steps towards him.

“A-are you OK?” She asked.

“Umm… Yeah, why?” Astro tilted his head.

“I heard what happened… You're looking for ‘Zoran’?”

“It's none of your business Uran!”

“It is too my business! I'm worried about you…”

Astro sighed. “It's nothing, really…”

“Pffft, yeah, keep telling yourself that…” She walked away back upstairs.

Astro wiped a few of the tears off his wet face. “I-I tried…” He whispered.

     Astro stopped walking, looking up at the sky and seeing the sun just starting to set.

“It's getting kinda late…” He said. “But I have to keep going, who knows where she could be now…”

He looked behind him, squinting his eyes to get a better view of the distance. Seeing as no one was there, he continued on his way.

     After walking for a while, all Astro wanted was to go home. His legs were tired and he swore he was seeing the same houses twice across a 10 minute span. Nothing at this point mattered as much as figuring out where Zoran was, but his will to go on was thinning with every passing moment.

“I can’t give up.” He thought.

Memories poured in when he reached the stop sign, it was like just yesterday he was lying on the ground like a dead fish, looking off into the night sky in fear of dying. It was like just yesterday a car pulled up to him, a man slowly getting out and getting a good look at the “hero” himself. If he looked so close, how could Astro not know who it was?

When the man drove away, it was like everything he ever knew had faded. Then it became nonsense again. It was like his brain was slowly going to mush as the time passed. What he once considered to be “Zoran” became just as a stranger to him as they were before. The need to search had seemed to disappear.

He stood in confusion, not sure what he was doing, or what to do next.

Astro decided on heading back home, seeing as there was no reason to head back to the court this late at night.

     He opened the door and walked inside, it seemed like no one was downstairs so he went straight up to his room.

The windows in his room were open, letting in a gentle breeze that blew on the curtains. Astro walked up to the windows and closed them, seeing as he didn’t want to be freezing the entire night. He sat at his desk and turned a lamp on.

“Boy did I look stupid, what was I looking for anyways?” He thought. He looked over at his bed and the sudden thought of sleeping tempted him.

The bed sheets were messy but soft. And oh, how perfect his pillow was, indented with a perfect mold of his head from nights of blissful rest. He sat down in the top of the bed, propping the pillow behind him as he leaned back.

“I… I should just sleep,” he said softly to himself. “Maybe things will be different tomorrow...”

He laid down in the bed and covered himself with the bedsheets, soon finding himself asleep.

     As if no time had passed, his eyes opened suddenly to a dark room. The alarm clock displayed in red “3:00 AM”.

All he could hear was the sound of a ticking clock.

But he didn’t have a wall clock.

The ticking sounded less like the clicking of clock hands and more of a snare drum. A high and short “Teh. Teh”.

Then he heard her.

_T-Tob-io?_


	4. Cheap Talk

     Astro looked around, seeing if anyone was there. He was all alone.

He had never been so scared this early in the morning.

"Maybe I'll just… go back to sleep."

STOP IT!

Astro gasped.

DON'T TOUCH ME!

Then it all came back to him.

"ZORAN!" He yelled.

NO, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!

"Zoran? Zoran??? Zoran are you okay????"

Z-Zoran?

"That's… you right?"

I don't know…

"What do you mean? It's your name?"

Name…. name… STOP IT!!

"What?"

WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN, STOP MESSING WITH ME!

"I-I I'm not messing-"

 _Silence_.

It all went to total silence.

Nothing was spoken.

Nothing was heard.

 

     The next day, Astro was sitting at the table alone, slowly eating away at his cereal. His mind was clogged with thoughts and endless possibilities of problems and outcomes yet to happen. Elefun walked down the stairs and to the kitchen, not bothering to look at the robot. He sighed.

Elefun turned around. "You alright, Astro?" He asked.

"I'm good," Astro replied and paused for a moment. "Can I take another mental health day off?" He glanced up at the professor.

Elefun sighed. "I don't want you missing school so much, it's one thing to be gone for a day, but you've already missed three just this semester…"

Astro sighed again. "Never mind." He got up from the table and went back upstairs to his room.

"Don't even know what I wanna wear…" He sighed, flopping onto his bed.

Zoran hadn't been a thought of his in a while, after the late night trauma, he tried to let go of what's been done. Nothing mattered at that point, just the numbness within that made death seem more like a favor from the beings above rather than something to dread. Hope had diminished for him, and for some odd reason, he seemed to be okay with it.

He sighed, slowly getting up from his bed, the A/C kicked in, and Astro suddenly shivered with a blast of cold air hitting him.

     At school, it was lunchtime, and Brianna was tagging along with the boys to sit with them during lunch.

"Aye, it's Brianna!" Alvin exclaimed.

"Shut it." Brianna made a hand gesture as if to suggest the worst if Alvin kept speaking.

"Oooo damnnn get rekttttttt" Ken teased.

Brianna glared at him for a moment, then saw Astro sitting at the end of the table, again, unsatisfied with the lunch Elefun prepared for him.

"Hey." Brianna greeted Astro.

"What?" Astro looked up.

"What's up?" Brianna stood up and sat next to him.

"Oh." Astro stirred his spoon around the bowl of tomato soup on the table. "Nothing…."

"He's still giving you that?"

"Yeah."

"I could eat it if you don't want it…" Brianna offered, holding a hand out.

"No, I can finish it…" Astro replied, slowly reaching for a spoonful.

"Hmmm, whatever," Brianna shrugged.

"Hey did we have homework for math?! Hate that bitch so much man…. Always giving us work, like we got lives too ya know?!" Alvin called over to Astro.

"Alvin, we don't even have math together…" Astro replied, setting his spoon down.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, you two are the ‘nerds.' "

He sighed, getting up from the table and dumping out his soup.

"....Is he…. Okay?"

"Not sure, think I should ask?" Brianna looked over at Astro as he walked away.

"Mmm dunno, none of my biz." Alvin shrugged.

Brianna sighed, she got up from the table and made her way to Astro.

"You sure you're doing fine, something seems off." Brianna gently nudged his arm with her elbow.

Astro sighed. "It's fine, I'm fine, she's fin-"

"She?" Brianna tilted her head.

Astro froze. "Uhhh…."

"You mean like, Uran?" She asked.

"Ummm, yeah, yeah… Uran, she's uh- she's fine."

"Haha, well that's good, I don't have any siblings but uh- hug her a little harder tonight, alright?"

"Uhhh…. I'll make a note of that, definitely, sureeeeee."

Brianna chuckled.

"Hey uh, I'll catch up with you and the guys later, I need to pee." Astro turned to Brianna.

"Oh! Um, sure! We'll just be chillin', as usual." She shrugged her shoulders cheerfully.

"Coolio." Astro finger gunned at Brianna as he slowly walked away to the bathroom.

He sighed, looking at himself in the mirror and filling up with regret. "You could have done something." he thought.

_NO!_

Astro took a step back

_WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!_

_SHE'S IN DANGER!!!!!_

He shook his head vigorously, trying to suppress whatever he was trying to remember.

_THIS IS NOT YOUR DECISION TOBIO!_

_ITS ASTRO!_

Astro heaved, avoiding the tears.

_SHE'S NOT EVEN DONE YET, WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT WITH HER?!_

"No…. let her go…" Astro cringed, pulling at his hair.

_YOU NEED TO STOP THIS CRAZY IDE-_

 

     Astro didn't know where he was.

Everything had gone to mush.

"W-what?" Astro tried sitting up but collapsed back onto the ground face-first.

_H-HELP!!!!!_

Astro cringed.

_Please…_

The sound of Zoran's distress shuttered through his bones and sent chills down his spine. It was then that fear instead of curiosity took over. He couldn't find the words to speak.

_HELP ME!!!!!_

Astro dug his fingers into his hair again, trying not to scream himself.

"WHY WON'T THIS SHIT WORK?!"

"I PUT SO MUCH EFFORT INTO THIS LITTLE SHIT AND IT WON'T EVEN FUNCTION PROPERLY!"

"... This is gonna be a setback…"

"What?" Astro thought. Although he couldn't stand, he crawled over to the door and tried to peer out at what was going on.

"This is supposed to be a masterpiece! I can't let Elefun claim the top role when we all know who's on top!"

Astro seemed confused. "What?" He said aloud.

"Who? Who's there?! COME AT ME ASSHOLE!!"

Astro gasped and scooted far back from the door.

"Oh… it's you…"

Astro’s body shook.

"What's that? The sound of cheap talk shoved up your ass? Nothing but trouble- I hope you've learned your lesson.... I know she will…"

Tenma glanced over at Zoran.

 

     He didn't feel right. With a hand on the faucet, he turned the water on and splashed some on his face.

"Zoran?" He thought. He had finally come to terms with the name. No fear, no concern, just… _n_ _othing_. He felt nothing.Empty on the inside, tired on the outside, tired of all the drama, tired of all the running around in circles trying to save someone that had no hope.

Then it clicked.

"Tenma….. She's… at Tenma's! That's why I left!!! That's why-"

 

     "I-I-"

"I told you not to leave and look what you got yourself into?!"

"I just wan-"

"I don't care what you wanted! This is massive and not something to make a joke out of!!"

"But profe-"

"NO! I am very disappointed in you Astro… I can't believe you would disobey me like that!"

Elefun sighed. "... Just glad I got you out of that psychopath's house- I would never set foot in there, ever."

Astro sighed and sunk into his seat.

"We'll talk more about this another time… for now, let's go home and get some food, I'd be starving if I was trapped in there like you were…"

Astro quietly nodded.

 

     Astro walked out of the bathroom and sat back down at the table with his friends.

"Hey, you're back!" Brianna exclaimed.

Astro chuckled. "I'd assume so…."

Brianna chuckled back, scooting closer to him for a hot second.

     After school, Astro opened the door to his house, walking in and surprised not to see the professor and Uran.

"Doctor? Uran?" He called out.

No response.

"Hmmmmmm." He closed the door behind him and walked in further. "Guess they’re busy…” Astro shrugged, setting his book bag down on the ground, then walking to the fridge, pulling out a yogurt. He sighed as he sat down on the stool by the counter, opening the yogurt and lifting up the spoon to his mouth.

At that moment, it was like he felt a million things at once, yet also felt nothing at all. Maybe he was used to it? Maybe he was numb?

"Just stop!" Astro slammed his spoon on the table. He stared at the wall for a moment. "You're blowing this way out of proportion?! It's not the end of the world… Zoran will be fine; you'll be fine…. It's not your fault!!" He felt his own lies stab him in the throat.

He decided to shrug it all off and continue eating his yogurt.

Not even seconds later, Uran and the professor walked through the door.

Astro, shocked, nearly choked on the spoon in his mouth. "Pro- ack! Professor!" Astro tried greeting once he swallowed the yogurt and put his spoon down.

"Astro?!" Elefun quickly took off his coat and walked over to the robot.

"Sorry, I just- didn't see you there…." Astro replied.

Elefun sighed. "Well, at least you're OK now…"

Uran thundered through and plopped onto the stool next to Astro.

"You won't believe what we saw today!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air.

"Oh really?" Astro pretended to sound intrigued.

"We got to get a close up of the cloning machine!"

Elefun chuckled. "We saw a little bit of it, seems pretty interesting." He closed the fridge door.

"You should've been there to see it; it was sooooooo cool! They did a test on a bunch of different fruits, and they looked the same!"

"Then they showed us with this thing that was enormous and tall an…"

Astro seemed to drown out Uran's words as everything felt like it was going to mush again.

"....ought it was gonna be impossible but nope! They did it with ease, can't wait to see what _your_ clone’s gon…"

Astro sighed and got up from the counter.

"And then they were gonna show us something else, but the professor said we had to go and I was all sad because it was cool an…"

Without instinct, he walked away from the kitchen and headed up the stairs.

"...so instead we-… hey?! Where you going, I was talking to you?! Pffft, boys…" Uran folded her arms as Astro headed for the stairs.

     Astro sat down on the floor and sighed after closing the door. "Why do I keep lying to myself?" He rubbed his head and sighed more.

"We're all fucking doomed, sorry."

Astro brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, looking up at the ceiling of his bedroom.

"Wonder why Tenma of all people wants another robot, guess I just wasn't enough huh? Gotta have someone else continue to fuck his life up because they think they're the _funniest shit_ …

"... I'm not even gonna try to censor myself at this point; it's too late.

"Wish I could just sleep forever and forget about this but noooooo, gotta stay alive to deal with everyone else's bullshit just in case they thought they didn't matter.

"But alas we are here… all of us stuck on this miserable planet to suffer like the barbarian assholes we always knew we were, welp guess we all better start writing our will…

"None of us want to admit it because it makes us look bad, but the truth of the matter is, we're all just egotistic assholes looking for someone or something to poke at to make us feel better.

"Maybe that's why he wanted to build a new robot, to find something to pick at."

 

 

      “Come on, Umataro… You’ve got this….” Tenma mumbled to himself, taking sips from near empty bottle of beer. He glanced back and forth between the robot girl and multiple computer screens, his fingers fluttering across buttons and keys.

An error message appeared before him.

He slammed his fist against the metal table. “Don’t you dare give up now! No! Not this time!” He looked back over at the screen and continued working.

There was another error message followed by a high pitched chime.

“FUCK!” He turned around and flipped over a nearby desk. Open books flew to the ground, the exposed paper absorbing the spilled beer on the floor. “FUCKING GODDAMNIT! WHY WON'T IT WORK?!”

He grabbed a half-full beer bottle and hovered over the robot.

“Why are you doing this to me?! Why won’t you do anything right?!!!” He yelled at the lifeless metal body. “I ought to pour this over you and start over…..” He held the bottle over her.

“But I won’t….” He sighed and turned around, placing his hands down on his desk. “I’m not letting myself start over… I don’t deserve to start over… And neither do you.” He turned his head to Zoran. “You don’t get do-overs in life. You have to accept the fact that you can never change your mistakes and you’re only going to make more….

“I won’t let this be another mistake….”

 

 

     Astro pulled the sheets from his bed so he could go to sleep when suddenly after a quick knock, the door opened.

Astro turned around and gasped in shock.

"Oh, did I scare you?" The person walked inside.

"Uh no, I didn't expect you coming in, it's fine, though." Astro sighed, looking at what appeared to be the professor for a moment before looking back at the bed he was in the midst of prepping for sleep in.

“Well…” Elefun sat down on the bed beside Astro.

“Hmm?” Astro fluffed up a pillow he had in his hand.

“I wanted to talk to you about Sunday.”

      “It’s for the best, Astro.” The professor began.

Astro sighed, propped up on the metal table, he knew what had to be done.

_The memory wipe._

Once he had forgotten everything, there’d be no chance he’d wanna go looking for Zoran again, unless he remembered.

Astro thought if he resisted hard enough, he could at least preserve some bits and pieces, hoping he’d eventually put them back together again.

But Elefun was stubborn, he _wanted_ Astro to forget. He wanted Astro to go back to being the happy child he once was, no rebelling and no running off to solve unsolvable problems.

And no run-ins with Tenma.

Though after all was done, Astro proved unsuccessful, the memories wiped from his mind. But he managed to find a loophole, with the help of certain triggers, he could have the memories return. But this sadly came with the fact that soon the memories will disappear, and he’ll be back at square one.

     Astro lied in bed wide-eyed, staring at the ceiling.

He sat up and felt a sudden wave of anger overtake him.

"I can't believe he would do that!" He sighed.

“He knew how bad I wanted to look for Zoran and he just- took that away! I’m doing fucking great and this is how I get paid?!”

“All that work….” His eyes began to tear up.

“ _Gone._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Let us know if you find any grammar or spelling mistakes!


End file.
